Ramblings on bookish matters. Horror and fantasy have the lion’s share, but not exclusively. Occasional interviews, art posts and bumblings.

Monday, July 28, 2008

In the news

Last week it was our 3rd wedding anniversary so me and my wife took off for the past week-end and therefore the lack of posts. It was a little getaway before the big vacation which will start on August 1st. But until then we will meet for a couple of posts, including reviews of Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon's "Mind the Gap" (it was finished for a while, but I'm only now working at the review) and of the graphic novels gathered on "Indiana Jones Omnibus, volume 1".

Virgin Comics, an international comics publisher, and Perspective Studios, a leading producer of digital animation, announced today a groundbreaking collaboration with acclaimed comics scribe Grant Morrison on MBX, a new intellectual property and animation franchise based on India’s iconic myth The Mahabharata. Morrison’s re-imagining of the epic tale of two families at war and the fate of the universe that hangs in the balance features an ancient world fused with incredible technology and super beings. At San Diego Comic-Con 2008, animation for the project will get its first public look.

MBX is a flagship title in a Virgin Comics and Perspective Studios ongoing joint venture formed in November to co-produce a diverse range of original animation and publishing properties. The companies expect to announce several animated MBX projects in the coming months, including feature film and video game adaptations.

“Right from our initial meeting, it was clear that Virgin Comics and Grant shared a passion for Eastern mythologies,” said Gotham Chopra, Virgin Comics’ Chief Creative Officer. “Of course, since Grant did not simply want to retell the same original story, we knew we needed to partner with Perspective Studios and their innovative artists and animators to truly capture Grant’s vision.”

“This is not a strictly accurate historical portrayal of events, but a poetic, fantastic interpretation of the original text,” added Morrison. “The world of MBX is a place of incredible art and technology. This kingdom of sages, warriors, noble men and women is stronger, faster, fitter and smarter than we are, but still prey to the same emotional foibles that lead us all into disaster.”

“Obviously, Perspective Studios was thrilled to have the opportunity to help realize Grant’s conception for this breakthrough project,” Steven Lerhoff, CEO of Perspective Studios, remarked. “We look forward to working with our partners at Virgin Comics to bring the world of MBX to a wide and enthusiastic audience.”

At this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, both companies as well as Morrison will be on hand to debut an exclusive MBX trailer created by Perspective Studios together with a limited-edition sketchbook. Grant Morrison will be joining comics legend Stan Lee on a panel on Thursday, July 24th at 10:45-11:45 am in Ballroom 20, when the MBX trailer will have its world premiere. Grant Morrison's MBX Sketchbook, a limited-edition print (1000 copies only) featuring mind-bending insight from Grant Morrison, beautiful concept art from Mukesh Singh (Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter, Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper), script excerpts and more, will be sold exclusively at the Con.

About Virgin ComicsVirgin Comics is a character entertainment company creating original stories and epic myths for worldwide audiences. The company was founded in November 2005 by Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Enterprises Ltd., alongside author Deepak Chopra, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur and entrepreneurs Sharad Devarajan, Gotham Chopra and Suresh Seetharaman. Virgin develops new stories with acclaimed filmmakers, actors and musicians including John Woo, Guy Ritchie, Terry Gilliam, Ed Burns, Nicolas Cage, Sachin Tendulkar and others. Feature films based on Virgin Comics’ characters are also in the works, including an animated feature The Secrets of the Seven Sounds, Guy Ritchie's Gamkeeper (with Warner Bros and producer Joel Silver) and Virulents with FOX, directed by John Moore (The Omen, Max Payne). Virgin Comics also formed a joint venture with NBC-Universal to create new science fiction properties for graphic novels and television with the SCIFI Channel. The first title in this series, The Stranded, premiered in January 2008. http://www.virgincomics.com/

About Perspective Studios

Perspective Studios is an industry-leading CG production house specializing in television, commercials, feature film and video games. With a portfolio of marquee attachments and co-productions, original IP developments and client service work, the company successfully defines a new model for the next-generation 3D animation firm. Perspective Studios' globally distributed team, headquartered in New York and Santa Monica, boasts skills in story and concept art development, character and environment modeling, crowd simulation, texturing, lighting, compositing, sound design, cinematic and voiceover direction and talent casting. Each of the company's facilities incorporates advanced, real-time full body motion capture with virtual camera, pre-vis and facial animation technologies. Animation by Perspective Studios has been seen in projects for Rockstar Games, Psyop, The Mill, MTV Games/Electronic Arts, THQ, Nickelodeon and many others. For information, visit http://www.perspectivestudios.com/ or contact 516/671-7505 (New York) or 310/451-6700 (Santa Monica).

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Stephen Hunt, the author of the novels "The Court of the Air", "The Kingdom Beyond the Waves" and the forthcoming "The Rise of the Iron Moon", has started a social network on Sf Crowsnest named Hivemind.

Welcome to SFcrowsnest Hivemind, the social network for science fiction and fantasy fans. If you're looking to converse and make friends with fellow science fiction & fantasy fans, then you have arrived at the right social networking service. We start at A for Asimov, move on through S for Star Wars (or possibly Star Trek, if you have odd-looking textures on your forehead), and end on Z is for Zelazny. And you can even stop off at B for Bladerunner and Battlestar, or C for Conan of Cimmeria, if you want to travel the long way round. Enjoy.